Green IT - available data and guidelines for reducing energy consumption in IT Systems

Nowadays saving energy is an interdisciplinary key challenge. Green IT deals with saving energy in IT systems, and is rapidly gaining momentum. Hardware manufacturers and designers have first considered the problem, in the field of IT, but recently software energy efficiency gathered the interest of industry and academic research. In this paper we aim at summarizing the available knowledge in Green IT. In particular we: • Introduce a taxonomy of concepts related to energy and IT. • Present recent data on energy consumption trends organized according to the taxonomy. • Present some guidelines to write energy efficient software organized according to the taxonomy. • Underline what is missing and what should be done in future research

A Green Information Technology governance model for large Mauritian companies

Green Information Technology (IT) has emerged as a vital IT governance concern to promote environmentally-friendly IT use and ecologically responsible business processes. Organisational adoption of Green IT is growing in strategic importance, but remains a concern in developing countries, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Mauritius. Despite a strong economic dependence on IT and growing challenges resulting from their environmental vulnerability, the governance of IT and Green IT in SIDS such as Mauritius remains uncharted in existing literature. This study examines IT Governance (ITG) and Green IT in Mauritius by exploring the ITG and Green IT accountabilities, practices and drivers of large Mauritian businesses pertaining to the prime pillars of the Mauritian economy. 109 companies from the population of 192 responded, leading to a response rate of 56.8%. Findings resulting from the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of responses were used to develop an IT Governance and Green IT model (ITGM) representing ITG and Green IT accountabilities, mechanisms and drivers among the businesses studied. It is envisaged that the ITGM and its resulting recommendations will provide both Mauritian and other SIDS' companies with a baseline for IT Governance and Green IT practice for improved business IT strategic value

Environmentally sustainable governance model to improve the ewaste management in Mexico City

In this age of technology, where the use of this is excessive and its exponential growth has given rise to a series of challenges and opportunities caused by the accumulation of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Mexico City. For its treatment, more practical approaches have been necessary, taking into account proper management and long-term well-being as a main element of sustainability. The objective of this work is to propose sustainable initiatives based on social, economic and environmental dimensions, based on the challenges faced by waste management of electrical and electronic equipment as one of the fields that contribute to the transition towards a sustainable society. Data from each dimension were analyzed to extract the most relevant challenges by reviewing the literature and identifying sources that relate them to the life cycle of electrical and electronic waste. As a result, a governance model for waste electronic and electronic devices was obtained to support environmental sustainability that identifies lines of action for the effective treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment highlighting awareness, education, knowledge and regulations as well as processes environmental. From this it is concluded that the governance of waste electrical and electronic equipment is mandatory for the integration of economic, social and environmental factors to efficiently leverage efforts on environmental care

Reducing energy usage in resource-intensive Java-based scientific applications via micro-benchmark based code refactorings

In-silico research has grown considerably. Today's scientific code involves long-running computer simulations and hence powerful computing infrastructures are needed. Traditionally, research in high-performance computing has focused on executing code as fast as possible, while energy has been recently recognized as another goal to consider. Yet, energy-driven research has mostly focused on the hardware and middleware layers, but few efforts target the application level, where many energy-aware optimizations are possible. We revisit a catalog of Java primitives commonly used in OO scientific programming, or micro-benchmarks, to identify energy-friendly versions of the same primitive. We then apply the micro-benchmarks to classical scientific application kernels and machine learning algorithms for both single-thread and multi-thread implementations on a server. Energy usage reductions at the micro-benchmark level are substantial, while for applications obtained reductions range from 3.90% to 99.18%.Fil: Longo, Mathias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; Argentina. University of Southern California; Estados UnidosFil: Rodriguez, Ana Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Mateos Diaz, Cristian Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Zunino Suarez, Alejandro Octavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; Argentin

Green IT – Available data and guidelines for reducing energy consumption in IT systems

Nowadays saving energy is an interdisciplinary key challenge. Green IT deals with saving energy in IT systems, and is rapidly gaining momentum. Hardware manufacturers and designers have first considered the problem, in the field of IT, but recently software energy efficiency gathered the interest of industry and academic research. In this paper we aim at summarizing the available knowledge in Green IT. In particular we: • Introduce a taxonomy of concepts related to energy and IT. • Present recent data on energy consumption trends organized according to the taxonomy. • Present some guidelines to write energy efficient software organized according to the taxonomy. • Underline what is missing and what should be done in future research

Interrelationships between environmental psychological factors and environmental behaviour among Malaysians

The facilities management profession has been extended to engage with issues o f sustainability and environmental degradation mostly caused by human activities such as energy consumption, water wastage, solid waste generation and air pollution. Previous studies suggested that environmental behaviour is influenced by a series o f psychological factors. Understanding the interrelationship between these factors and the behaviour in the local context will help policy maker form better strategies to improve environmental behaviour among Malaysians. Furthermore, such studies are currently absent. To address these issues, this research identified environmental psychological factors that influence environmental behaviour. Next, an investigation on the interrelationship between environmental psychological factors and environmental behaviours pertaining to the four major environmental issues, namely water, air, solid waste and climate change were conducted. Finally, significant differences in the influence o f the environmental psychological factors on environmental behaviours across urban and rural community were examined. In the research, a nationwide survey was conducted in 13 states and 3 federal territories in Malaysia. The sampling method used was multistage stratified random sampling. 6616 questionnaires from respondents across different demographics of Malaysians were collected. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to illustrate the interrelationship of the affecting environmental psychological factors and environmental behaviours (water quality conservation behaviour, air quality conservation behaviour, solid waste reduction behaviour and low carbon behaviour). In addition, Multigroup Analysis (PLS-MGA) was conducted to compare these interrelationships across urban and rural groups. Findings revealed that the environmental awareness, concern and attitude were significant and positively related to corresponding behaviours. Notably, the environmental concern was the most influencing factor to determine water and air quality conservation behaviours as well as the low carbon behaviour. Besides, awareness of water pollution and climate change towards their corresponding behaviours; and concerns towards the water and air quality conservation behaviour were significantly different across the urban and rural residents. The findings would be beneficial for government and nongovernment agencies to form better environmental policy and decision making, especially in fostering positive environmental behaviour among Malaysians

Energy-aware Software

Luca Ardito has focused his PhD on studying how to identify and to reduce the energy consumption caused by software. The project concentrates on the application level, with an experimental approach to discover and modify characteristics that waste energy. We can define five research goals: RG1. Is it possible to measure the energy consumption of an application? Measuring the energy consumption of an electronic device (PC, mobile phone, etc.) is straightforward, but several applications coexist on it, possibly with very different energy needs. Usage profiles for applications are certainly important too. We will consider the most common platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac Osx). RG2. Could Energy Efficiency be considered as a software non- functional requirement? Research has increasingly focused on improving the Energy Efficiency of hardware, but the literature still lacks in quantifying accurately the energy impact of software. This research goal is strictly related to the following one. RG3. Is it possible to profile the energy consumption of a software application? An empirical experiment could assess quantitatively the energetic impact of software usage by building up common application usage scenarios and executing them independently to collect power consumption data. RG4. Is there a relationship between the way a program is written and its energy consumption? The same application, at the code level, can be written in different ways. Here the question is if the different ways have impact on energy consumption. The code should be considered at two levels: source code (programmer) and object code/byte code (compiler). RG5. Is it possible to use the energy consumption information to trigger self-adaptation? A software application could automatically modify its behaviour in order to reduce its energy consumption

Green IT Model for Gulf Cooperation Council Organisations

This research aims to develop a Green IT model that suits the needs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. A mix-methods approach that combines interviews with a survey was implemented to assess the model critically. The initial model developed for evaluating various Green models to assess the Governance, Social and Cultural, Information Technology and Green Management in GCC. The Green IT model aims to raise sustainability awareness in GCC countries based on their visions

IT Governance and Green IT Model for Large Mauritian Organisations

This study explores IT governance and Green IT in large companies from the five main pillars of the Mauritian economy. An IT Governance and Green IT model comprising of IT Governance and Green IT decision archetypes, mechanisms and influencers is developed from company executive interviews, analysis of organisation and government documents as well as a survey of firms. Recommendations are then provided to improve the governance of IT and Green IT in large Mauritian enterprises